[QUOTE=ricasso;1589444575]That's the only way I do clutch bleeds now. When I converted my bmw from automatic to manual it took a good bit of work and when the final step was done I was at home by myself and needed to bleed the clutch to drive it. After all that work I wasn't going to wait on the wife to get home to help me so I reverse bled it and it worked great. I will use that method from now on.

Air wants to go up so as mentioned no bubbles.

 

What causes that 2nd to first gear crunch when the clutch is all the way in and your rolling 3-5mph?

 

It's more than likely a clutch hydraulic issue rather than a ZF6 issue. There could be a breach or air pocket some where in the system causing the clutch to not fully disengage when you press the pedal. This in turn would give you notchy and clunky shifts. Not sure how many miles are on your car but unless the friction disc is on its way out (slipping under load), its more than likely one of the hydraulic components.

Game Plan:

1. Replace trans oil with one of the recommended oils on the Forum here. My opinion is too stay away from the thicker Castrol and go with Amsoil, Redline, or GM.

2. Replace fluid in clutch reservoir using the ranger method or re-bleed the system entirely with new fluid. Then keep an eye on the fluid for a couple weeks.

3. If the clutch fluid reservoir level drops, time to start giving the hydraulic components a closer inspection. Master and Slave components can be sourced locally but I would suggest getting yours rebuilt by Jim Jandik @ Power Torque Systems (Happy customer here and I know many others). The braided hydraulic hose can also be sourced through him I believe, if not it can be duplicated locally by any good hydraulic hose and fitting shop.


Do those things and see where you're at with the trans. The ZF6 is a little noisy, maybe even sloppy at times, but it keeps coming back asking for more. No complaints here with it.

 

The car has 71k on the clock, I believe the fluid has been changed at some point because there is obvious tool marks on the drain plug and fill plug. I havent fool with the clutch hydraulics yet, I just ran into a snag with an overheating issue I am dealing with, however I did notice the slave cylinder was rather rusty looking when I was under the car. Clutch seems to be fine though when driving. If the car is parked and I go from neutral to get into first to keep it from rolling back into the curb it will not go in unless I either put it in 2nd and slide up to 1st or let the clutch out a smidge and let it roll back and it will "fall" into gear.